High temperature plastic anisotropy of Y2O3 partiallystabilized ZrO2 single crystals

Yttria tetragonal zirconia single crystals 3.4 wt.% (2.0 mol%), have been deformed in compression at high temperature (1400 °C). The compression axis was chosen to activate the primary slip plane ({100}〈011〉). In this system there are three primary slip planes, one cubic and two tetragonal one. In each case, the microstructural feature activated during the deformation process has been studied by optical microscopy. The anisotropic behavior of the three primary slip systems has been studied by a suitable choice of the compression axis.